# 1
Swagman Upright Bike Rack for 1 Bike - Roof Rack Crossbars - Frame Mount
Planning on bringing bikes while camping. I mounted 2 of the Swagman bike racks to my new Sportrack on my pop-up camper. The bikes fit perfectly. The racks seem sturdy enough. Not heavy duty, but for my needs they should be fine. Assembly was relatively fast and easy.
We have used the Swagman Roof Rack a number of times when we have needed the additional bike carrying capacity. It took a couple attempts to get the initial spacing of the bike rack properly balanced on the van’s roof rack as recommended by the instructions. But it was easy to do and once set was very easy and quick to put on and take off. The rack works great, the bike is easy to put into place and secure. The bike and rack are very stable and quiet and haven’t required any mid-trip adjustments. We always put the cheapest bike on the roof (lol) but do use a bit of duct tape to protect the finish just Incase. We are very satisfied with the rack and consider it quite a deal for the money.
# 2
Curt 2 Bike Platform Rack - 1-1/4" and 2" Hitches - Frame Mount - Tilting
Not perfect, but still the pick of the litter among affordable platform racks. Pros: sturdy, easy to assemble and use, two storage modes, mostly thick steel with minimal plastic, good depth (works well with my '05 Buick Lacrosse, with 1-1/4" hitch recessed about 6" behind bumper face), built in keyed locks. Quite solid Cons: barely fits tall bike, sloppy fabrication, cheap hardware; should reverse direction of short and long locking arms so taller, heavier bike goes inboard, anti-rattle hitch pin does not have a lock, so you have to buy one for $XX more. My story: assembly failed at the first step because the 1/2-20 shank bolt was mis-threaded such that it would not accept the nut. I was able to make it work by running a rethreading die over the bolt, removing a fair amount of metal. The good folks at etrailer sent me a replacement bolt, but I had to invest $3 in a new Nyloc nut. The black finish on the hardware (nuts, bolts, pins) is so thin it might as well have been applied with a Sharpie. The rack itself is nicely powder-coated. The bends and hole punching in the metal are sloppy. The rack lists to starboard, and the wheel support arms/hoops droop on the right side. It's just a cosmetic issue, but Curt should be embarrassed. I have a very tall bike (27" frame),and it barely fits. That said, it does fit, at the highest stop. If the mast were a few inches taller, it would be great. As it is, I have to finagle and slightly force the bike into place. I will probably remove the stop screw for the locking arm and just remove it entirely to load the bike. Finally, when you unpin the mast to move it into operational position from storage position, it will fall hard onto the trunk deck if you don't hold it. There needs to be a stop so the mast cannot rotate past vertical and damage the car. Overall, good solid rack, but not all it should be in design or execution.
I had a 1 1/4" hitch installed on my 2016 toyota camry (the only size offered on the camry). I was very pleased with the ride. I expected to hear alot of noise like experienced when towing a trailer, but I heard almost nothing accept when going over speed bumps. I had to extend the tire supports to their widest position because having mountain bikes with a step through angled bar, they were more secure the closer i could get the upper and lower support arms to the seat post. The bikes were mounted in opposite directions and only stuck out maybe 6 inches or so. One locking barrel on the lower support arm was malfunctioning and gave me trouble but i called etrailer and they sent a replacement as soon as they were in stock. It comes with a anti rattle hitch pin but I highly recommend purchasing an anti rattle hitch pin with a lock on the end instead of just a clip for more security when unattended. After a few times mounting the bikes and figuring out the best way they should be positioned (pedals positions, direction of bike, and that my wife's smaller bike fit better going on first with my larger bike on the outside) I can mount the rack and bikes and be ready to go in just 5 minutes. (70 pounds on a torque wrench recommended for the hitch pin) I am overall pleased with my purchase i would recommend this product.
What our customers are saying:
"I ordered a trailer hitch and a bike rack carrier the order was shipped with in three days. To put the hitch on only took about 30 mins. only had to drill two 1/2 holes. fit like a glove."